


In the lunar night

by linumlea



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bilbo is an incubus, Fem!Bofur - Freeform, I'm not sure if it could be a trigger, M/M, but there is a plot twist to that, inability to eat, oh my god I'm so bad at tagging, so I'm adding this here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-04 09:20:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4132207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linumlea/pseuds/linumlea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo has done something he was made to regret very deeply. Now as a punishment he must get by while being an incubus. As you will see, he doesn't do very well. But why is that, exactly?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It looked like concrete.

He felt it digging into his cheek and chest. Was he lying on the pavement? He didn't know.

'I'm so hungry,' he thought. His eyes closed slowly. At least in sleep he didn't feel the hollowness filling his stomach and hunger clouding his thoughts.

 

"-the hell?", the man exclaimed in surprise. He gazed at the shape lying on the pavement. It was really early, the town still slept while he had to get up at the crack of dawn to get to work, so there was no one anywhere near. He looked around, at loss with what to do, finally crouching down next to it. The person lying on the ground was a man, most probably unconscious. He hesitantly reached out to shake man's shoulder. Subconsciously, he noted that man's arm was so thin and small his hand engulfed it whole.

"Hey. Hey! Are you alright?", he asked. The man's body yielded to the movement helplessly. Suddenly the man babbled something.

"What?"

"-ungry... I'm so..."

He blinked in surprise. "Hungry? Did you pass out because you are hungry? Shit," his thoughts raced. "Shit. Hey, I need to call an ambulance, alright? I'll be back in a mi-"

"No!", the man suddenly cried, his arm shooting up. "I can't... go... to the hospital," even ending the sentence seemed too much for the man and his arm flopped down again.

"I can't just leave you here. Hey!", he shook man's shoulder again, to no avail as the man didn't say anything else and didn't even wake up again.

"Shit."

 

Bilbo opened his eyes slowly, light bursting even through his closed eyelids. He squinted, trying to make out his surroundings. He seemed to be in a hospital room, everything was white and the bed was mildly uncomfortable.

'Oh, no,' he thought, worried senseless. He feared what would happen if he was taken to the hospital and here he was!

He tried to recall what happened that led him where he was now. The last thing he remembered was someone shaking him and telling him they would call an ambulance. He was sure he blurted out something, that he can't go, not to the hospital. Apparently his request was not honored.

'I have to get out,' Bilbo panicked. 'I have to get out!'

He sat up suddenly, but before he could do anything else the dizziness took its best of him and he had to hold onto the bedding. He almost started crying in his helplessness. It took him a while to catch his breath and once he did, Bilbo started moving his legs towards the edge of the bed. Slowly, painfully slowly he moved until his feet touched the tiles. He breathed heavily, unable to get up, completely without strength. In one jerked motion, Bilbo shoot up and saw black.

"Whoa! Easy," he heard and felt someone help him on the bed. Bilbo felt tears prickling at his eyes - he was so weak! He didn't eat for so long, he had no strength.

"You shouldn't get up! What were you thinking?", someone asked. Bilbo closed his eyes at some point and now he opened them again. He saw an energetic woman in nurse's outfit, she was standing right beside him, hands on her hips.

"Where... Where am I?", he managed to ask, his voice hoarse.

"You are at a private clinic. You don't have to worry about anything, we will take care of you," she assured him. Her smile was bright and pretty.

Bilbo gulped. "I can't- I have to go! I need to, I must go!", he tried to get up again, but she held him down.

"There is no way you are going anywhere! You are way too weak," she scolded him. "I have to go get the doctor. Wait here and don't even think about moving!", she shook her finger at him and left.

Bilbo leaned on the bed, defeated. He had no idea how to escape this situation. He closed his eyes and hung his head. The past two weeks turned his life upside down and he lost control over everything.

He opened his eyes again when someone walked in.

"How do you feel?", man asked. It must have been the doctor.

"I- I feel fine. There is no need..."

White bushy eyebrows shoot up. "Oh, there is a great need, lad! You are malnourished. When was the last time you ate?"

Bilbo squirmed under his inquiring gaze. "I don't remember. Two weeks ago?"

"Two weeks! What were you thinking?! Why didn't you eat?"

"I- I can't."

Doctor's face turned grave serious. "Do you want to talk to the psychologist?"

Bilbo looked at him, not comprehending. Finally, he caught up. "No! It's not like that. I want to eat, but I can't. Whatever I eat, I just throw it up right away."

"Why didn't you go to the hospital before?", nurse asked, concerned.

He looked away, tight-lipped. "They can't help me. I'm not sick, not per se."

The doctor shook his head slowly. "I can't say I understand."

"I don't expect you to. I just need to be let go," Bilbo insisted.

"We can't do that, you are in horrible state," nurse said.

"We can solve this later. For now, can you tell us your name?"

"Baggins, Bilbo Baggins," he stated.

Doctor nodded to the nurse to note everything down on the card. "I'm Oin Gróinson, this is nurse Bofur, she will help you with everything you might need."

Bofur smiled down at him. She was a warm person, but not even one bit condescending.

"Lie down and rest for now. We will run some tests to see what we are dealing with," doctor ordered. He turned to walk out, but Bilbo stopped him.

"How did I get here? Nurse Bofur said it's a private clinic, who brought me here instead of the hospital?"

"My cousin found you. He did intend to call an ambulance at first, but apparently you insisted you can't go to the hospital. He dropped by some time ago to see how you manage, but you slept all day, mister Baggins, so you missed him. He said he will come again soon enough," with that, Oin left. Bofur stayed only minutes longer, to show him how to call her and where are his things. Everything was put neatly in small locker next to his bed.

Bilbo was lying on the bed, worrying. He looked at the drip on the hanger - nurse Bofur said they are giving him glucose. It did seem to work for now, at least his body wasn't rejecting it like it did with food. Suddenly he started banging his fists on the bed, bottled up emotions starting to find their way out. If only it didn't happen! If only he didn't have to deal with this nightmare!

 

Bilbo woke up when someone knocked on the door. He tried to speak, but his voice was too hoarse. He cleared his throat.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened to reveal a tall man. He had piercing eyes and for some reason Bilbo feared they would reach deep down into his mind and the man would soon know everything there was to know about him. Bilbo gulped and cleared his throat again.

"Yes?", he squeaked.

The man gazed at him, looking him up and down. "At least you don't look dead anymore," he spoke suddenly.

Bilbo was taken aback. "Dead? I- I-"

"Thorin Durin. I'm the one who found you, lying on the pavement," the man named Thorin came up to Bilbo and extended his hand.

Bilbo blinked a few times before he remembered his manners and shook Thorin's hand.

"Nice to meet you. I guess I should thank you-"

"I should think so," Thorin interrupted him gruffly. "I will be going then."

"Eh?"

"I only came up to see if you will live. It was quite a shock, I must say - finding a half-dead person half an hour after I got up. Makes your day," he crooked his lips in a bitter smile. "All the best," he added and turned to walk out.

Bilbo finally found his voice. "Thank you! Thank you, mister Durin."

Thorin nodded and left. Bilbo was left alone in his room. This short conversation made him wonder, what it must have looked like to outsiders - barely alive man, passed out on the pavement because he didn't eat for days even though his wallet is, maybe not full, but not empty either. And really, what was this Durin problem? Walking in and out in a minute, barely explaining himself. Ill manners, nothing less.

He went to sleep again, but in his dreams he felt watched the whole time and he tossed and turned on his bed.

 

Oin looked at the papers in his hands and shook his head. "Every test I could think of came out negative. Truly, I don't know what to tell you, modern medicine doesn't seem to know what sickness it could be."

"I already told you, it's not a sickness," Bilbo sighed.

"What is it then?", Oin pressed, dismayed by Bilbo's secrecy.

"I can't tell you. It's a secret I must not reveal," Bilbo cringed internally. It must have sounded like straight out of some tale from middle ages.

Oin raised his hands in exasperation. "Mister Baggins, keeping secrets from your doctor never results in anything good. I would advise you to reevaluate your priorities. It is your health that you should be most concerned about. Your life is in danger!"

"I do know that, but I can't speak of it to anyone," he tried explaining. "I'm not sure what would happen if I did. What is happening to me is a punishment, the sort that you can't escape."

His doctor didn't seem even one bit convinced, but didn't press any further. Bilbo tried changing the subject. "Is it possible for me live like this, with drips with glucose, for long?"

"Not very long, no. Sooner or later your body will run out of all the necessary nutrients and start acting up," Oin's lips tightened. "I wouldn't advise longer than two weeks of such treatment."

 

"Mister Baggins, I hear you are not well at all yet."

Bilbo choked on his water. Thorin appeared from thin air all over again, disrupting the quiet of the afternoons in the clinic. Bilbo wondered how he did that - Thorin was tall and must have weighted quite a bit, but not even once did he hear his steps on the corridor.

"A- Ah, yes. I'm much better, though," he assured, not sure if he should keep up the pretence of everything going just alright.

"And I hear there is a secret involved and you refuse to make known what it is," Thorin continued as he was taking a seat near Bilbo's bed.

"That is true," Bilbo nodded. Not for the first time he wondered what Thorin did for a job. He was anxious to ask, since it didn't seem like their acquaintance was going the normal way. After all, how many of those start with finding someone spread out on the pavement at first light of the day?

Thorin seemed to be unaware of the thoughts his visit induced in Bilbo. He had a peculiar and unreadable look of mixed expressions on his face. "Mister Baggins, my cousin called me, because he is concerned for your life. He didn't know what to do and could only think of me."

"He- he did?", Bilbo asked, visibly surprised.

"Yes," Thorin affirmed, gruff. "At first he wanted to call a psychiatrist, but opted against it. He thinks your inability to eat might have roots in your mental health. He didn't want to rush into it, though, but he couldn't think of a way to contact your friends, since you don't seem to have family."

Bilbo looked down. "Really, it is so nice of him to be so concerned. But there is no need for any of this."

Thorin rised his brows. "He is your doctor after all. But no need? Mister Baggins-"

"Bilbo," Bilbo interrupted suddenly.

After a few seconds of silence, Thorin spoke in an unexpectedly soft voice. "Bilbo, then."

Bilbo felt  himself shivering, not really knowing why.

"Mister Baggins, what is your secret?"

He tried keeping up his defenses. "Forgive me, but what does it concern you, mister Durin? You saved me, alright, I'm extremely grateful, but I just do not understand why you keep coming here?"

"Thorin."

Bilbo blinked. "What?"

"Thorin. I assumed we are on the first name basis."

"Yes, yes, alright," Bilbo waved his hands. "Please do answer my question."

"I will if you answer mine," Thorin huffed as he leaned back in his seat.

'What is he, five?", Bilbo thought dismayed. He looked up, ready to say his thought out loud, when he met this piercing gaze that left him unable to form a coherent thought once before. Before he could stop himself, Bilbo opened his mouth.

"I was turned into an incubus."

Thorin stared at him with incredulity. "Incubus."

"Yes," Bilbo confirmed. 'Oh, will I regret this,' he thought to himself.

"Aren't those the demons, that..."

"Yes, they are."

Thorin kept silent for a long time. Finally, he shook his head a bit.

"And you were turned into one. How?"

"I angered someone I shouldn't have angered."

"That's quite vague," Thorin pointed out. "And, forgive my bluntness, but one would think being turned into a demon known for their involvement in physical pleasures isn't exactly a punishment."

"You don't understand," Bilbo sighed. "I'm asexual."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm ashamed. This sat on my computer for a full week and I couldn't finish it. Curse you, exams! Curse you, uni!

"You don't understand," Bilbo sighed. "I'm asexual."

After a few seconds of silence, Thorin's mouth snapped closed as he became aware it was hanging open.

"Oh. I- I see how that may be a problem," he cleared his throat.

"Yes, quite a problem indeed," Bilbo agreed, his tone sarcastic. He couldn't help himself - embarrassment always made him lose his temper a little bit. "A very well thought-out curse for someone like me."

"I imagine it is," Thorin smiled hesitantly, feeling Bilbo's frustration. He tried changing the subject. "So how did it happen? Why were you cursed?"

"I unintentionally stole something," Bilbo explained. "When I wanted to return it, the old man wouldn't listen to reason. He told me that I have wronged him and for that I shall be punished, so what once was needless to me, now will become a way for me to live. He started chanting and waving his arms around. At first I thought it was ridiculous, but then I started having problems eating and it started getting worse," he finished with a sigh.

"Did he know about you, being...?"

"No, no, I don't think so. Unless he is one of those people who claim to know all the secrets."

"What did he tell you, exactly?", Thorin inquired.

Bilbo twiddled his thumbs as he tried to remember. "Well, he told me about the punishment. Then there was a bit about becoming "a creature despised, born from the dark, feeding off humans like a parasite". For a while I thought I might be a vampire," he couldn't help but smile. "But when I started putting together bits and pieces I reached a conclusion that I'm in fact an incubus. Lack of fangs was one of indicators, also I didn't start glowing in daylight. Shame, really."

Thorin chuckled. Bilbo smiled in return, feeling quite proud of himself.

"I remember fairytales from my childhood," Thorin mused. "Didn't the evil wizards and witches usually include a way to reverse their curses?"

"They did, they did," Bilbo was quick to agree. This man who did this to me also said something. I actually wrote it down," he reached down to the locker. "I have always wondered if they had those little rhymes thought out beforehand or they were coming up with them as they went," Bilbo blabbed as he searched the pockets in his jacket. "There it is. It went like this:

When the light most silver gains a form,

When the words most honest a gift become,

When in the coldest night you find warmth,

Then you should find the spell came undone."

"Light most silver?", Thorin wondered. "Words most honest...," he thought for a while, but shook his head in the end. "I've got nothing."

"Me too, at least about the first two verses. The third one is a bit clearer - "the coldest night" might mean the coldest as in during winter."

"It might, it might, that's true," Thorin nodded absentmindedly. "But it's summer now."

"Yes, I'm afraid that's the bad part," Bilo hang his head as he stared at the four verses he wrote down just a few weeks ago. Has it really only happened so recently? It felt like lifetime.

Thorin clapped his hands on his knees suddenly. "Oh well, at the very least it gives us a few months time to figure it out."

'Us?', Bilbo caught the word, surprised. Thorin looked at his watch and back at Bilbo.

"I'm afraid I have to leave you for now. Bilbo," he smiled warmly. "I will see you soon. Worry not, we will come up with a solution to this. You should rest now."

Thorin got up and left, closing the door quietly and bidding Bilbo goodnight.

Bilbo's head flopped down on the pillow. He was almost asleep, when he remembered Thorin didn't answer his question in the end. 'I will ask him again next time,' he thinks, warmed up by the possibility of this "next time".

 

"Bofur," Bilbo started. The nurse stopped humming and looked up at him from where she was changing the bedding.

"Yes?"

Bilbo cleared his throat, suddenly nervous. "What do you know about mister Durin?

"Oh. Not much, I'm afraid. Why?"

"No reason. Just that, well, he visited a few times, but never said a word about himself. I'm, ah, curious."

"Hmm, yes, I guess one could be curious for mister Durin," she smiled distantly. Bilbo waited a moment, but as Bofur kept silent, staring thoughtlessly at the wall, he understood he will have to snap her out of it. Bilbo had to loudly clear his throat to stop her from daydreaming.

She blinked and reddened a bit. "Ah yes. Well, I know that he is doctor Oin's distant cousin. I think he has his own business, but I never caught anything more. He is rather quiet and secretive, but that much you already know," she smiled. "You should ask him in person, though. It's the best way to get to know someone."

She finished folding the laundry, checked his drip and walked out, cursing as pieces of bedding fell out of her hands. Bilbo was left alone with his thoughts. He wondered what he would do, if he found someone passed out, babbling about not wanting to go to the hospital. He would most probably call the ambulance regardless of person's wishes, maybe checked with them once and not concerned himself with them anymore.

The longer he thought, the less he understood why Thorin was visiting him so often. Up until now, he came to see him three times in just a few days. Bilbo shook his head - he was starting to obsess over this, but couldn't stop himself. This secrecy around Thorin didn't help either. It really was becoming alarming.

 

Bilbo cringed when the cold metal touched his back. The stethoscopes were a wonderful invention, but this metal end was irritating.

Oin instructed him to slowly breathe in and out as he listened to the way his lungs worked, when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Oin said, concentrated on listening, his brow furrowed

The door opened to reveal Thorin. "Good eveni-," he started and stopped midword, as he noticed Oin and Bilbo. Bilbo felt himself redden, suddenly aware that he was half naked.

"Thorin! I thought it was Bofur. Would you mind waiting outside, lad, until I finish the examination?", Oin asked.

"No, no, I will... I will leave you to it," Thorin finally tore his gaze away from them and closed the door.

"Mister Baggins, you seem flushed. Did you develop a fever?"

"No, no, I don't think so. I wonder why," Bilbo laughed nervously.

Oin put his stethoscope back on his neck and started looking through papers on the clipboard.

"As I told a few days ago - this treatment," he pointed at the drip. "Is only temporary. I'm convinced that your inability to eat might be a problem of psychological nature as there doesn't seem to be physical explanation. I would like to arrange a meeting with a psychiatrist," Oin stated, his features firm.

"I understand. If you think it necessary, doctor, and it will ease your mind, please do it."

Oin nodded and walked out, stopping only to instruct Bilbo to not strain himself. He talked down Thorin about something, so Bilbo used this time to hurriedly puts on his shirt. Before Thorin walks in, Bilbo was fully clothed and safely tucked under the blankets.

"Good evening," Thorin smiled. Was it Bilbo's imagination, or did he seem to be a little disappointed as he looked at Bilbo buried in the bedding.

"Hello."

"You seem worse again," Thorin remarked and winced. Bilbo smirked as he understood Thorin must have realized how insensitive it sounded.

He waved it off. "I will live," he said out loud. 'At least a few more days,' he thought gravely.

"I have been thinking about that rhyme, but I'm afraid I haven't reached any conclusions."

"We have time to figure it out. My friend brought me some fruits. Would you like to have them? I have no means to eat them anytime soon, so," Bilbo laughed nervously. Thorin nodded, so he struggled to get up. His muscles were constantly sore now and he started having trouble doing things. Thorin saw he wasn't at his best tonight, so he motioned for Bilbo to stay in bed and went to wash the fruits himself.

"Sorry," Bilbo felt he should apologize. Thorin shook his head dismissively, quiet. He came back to the bed and sat down.

"I actually had a few ideas, but they seem to backfire for now. I was thinking about taking you to a few places, but you seem to be too weak for that. If it's not a secret, what did Oin tell you?"

"Nothing much. He doesn't understand what my "illness" is, so he set up an appointment with psychiatrist. I wonder what he will diagnose me with," he laughed nervously again. Really, what was wrong with him?

Thorin gazed at him inquiringly. "And about your condition?"

Bilbo bit his lips and kept silent. He really didn't know how to approach this.

"It's fine if you don't want to say, I'm just asking to make better plans. I'm prying, I know, I'm sorry about that."

'I wonder if it would be better to keep him in the dark or just pour my troubles all over him again,' Bilbo thinks. "I would just rather not tell. Don't want to trouble you with anything more."

"It's fine. But you will have to forgive, because I have even more personal questions."

Bilbo rose his eyebrows.

"After you realized you were turned into, uh," Thorin waves his hand. "What did you do? I understand that since you are asexual it's a problem for you to..."

"It's not a giant problem, no. I'm not repelled by the act of intercourse. It's the very start of the relationship I'm having problems with. I mean, I have no idea how to flirt."

Thorin's eyes went big. "Flirt? That's it? You don't know how to flirt?"

"Yes?", Bilbo tried, fully aware how that must have sounded.

"I thought... No, forget it. If that's the case, then it will be much easier to sort things out. Um, did you try to uh, hook up with someone?", Thorin asked.

"I did. But I have zero experience. I tried with multiple people, but it always took me nowhere. I have no idea what I was doing wrong. I even tried researching, books, the internet, things like that," Bilbo explained.

"You have never done that before? Have you never been in a relationship before?"

"No."

 Thorin stayed quiet. Bilbo slowly started getting flustered, because of things Thorin must have been thinking about him now. But then Thorin started talking and Bilbo's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Well then. I'm no expert, but I suppose it would be the best to simply teach you a few things and then go to a few places. I have something in mind..."

 

Bilbo was lying in his bed in the dark of the room, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, face blank. Suddenly he groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. His cheeks felt as if they were aflame. He must have been bright red now and it only flustered him further. What a situation to find oneself in!

'Ridiculous. Ridiculous! He even told me those cheesy pick up lines! Oh gods, this is single most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me. Including passing out on the street!'


End file.
